A Duoethnography of Women of Color Academics at a "Diversity-Focused" Institution: Tensions, Misalignments, and Academic Beckys

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Women and Girls of Color Navigating Academic Pathways (Table 4)

Abstract

In the recent past, many institutions of higher education have publicly declared a commitment to antiracist work and these declarations have led to institutional initiatives and efforts to create more diverse, inclusive, equity-driven institutions. Guided by theories of congruence, notions of (in)visibility, and previous autoethnographic work by women professors of color, here we use duoethnography to center our experiences as women of color academics working within a changing, “diversity-focused” institution. In our dialogue and subsequent analysis we have come to understand how our ideas and our institution’s ideas of justice are misaligned, resulting in tensions between how we, as women of color, approach antiracist work within a system that conceptualizes and prioritizes equity from a different set of values.

Authors

• Christine Montecillo Leider, University of Massachusetts - Boston

• Christina L. Dobbs, Boston University